Behind the Shade: Bésame Cosmetics 1941 Victory Pink
It’s 6 am and your alarm clock is singing louder than the birds. You slowly open your eyes, groggily getting accustomed to your brightly lit room. You continue to have not fairly gotten use to waking up at this hour. Gone are the glamorous events and dancing the evening away to Moonlight Serenade by the ever common Glenn Miller. Now you’re a girl of the workforce, certainly one of many who’ve grown accustom to rigorous labor. You’re taking pleasure in your new profession, fortunately doing all of your half for the continuing warfare. You stroll to your closet and select your outfit for the day— an olive inexperienced Marine Corps Uniform. With confidence you place in your uniform, rigorously adjusting the jacket so it lays easily. You pull your hair again and tuck your curls up away out of your shoulders earlier than putting your cap upon your head. Subsequent, a easy swipe of pale powder on the face, a mushy pink rouge for the cheeks, thick brows, and lengthy luscious lashes. Lastly, your navy issued lipstick – a shiny, vibrant purple that completely matches your uniform’s trim. It’s your favourite shade, good for the assured, patriotic lady of the Forties.
The Forties was an period brimming with patriotism, optimism, and daring purple lips. America had simply entered the second World Struggle and girls’s roles within the office started to be redefined. The Nineteen Thirties noticed girls as nurses, college academics, and homemakers. Nevertheless, with males off at warfare, the Forties lady may now work in factories, on meeting traces, and even be a part of the navy. On the urging of Eleanor Roosevelt (the primary woman on the time), and Common George Marshall, the primary girls’s department of service was established in 1941— the Ladies’s Auxiliary Military Corps (later to be often known as Ladies’s Military Corps).
With girls turning into increasingly more concerned within the warfare effort, one would suppose make-up was a misplaced precedence. Nevertheless, in the course of the decade “magnificence was your responsibility” and thought of an act of patriotism. Pink lips symbolized victory, optimism, and impacted morale. Pink lipstick was seen an appropriate shade for any event: at house, within the office, and even lively responsibility.
Within the early Forties, well-known make-up artist, and girls’s activist, Elizabeth Arden was approached to create a lipstick particularly designed for girls in service. In 1941 “Montezuma Pink” was created. It was a shiny, vibrant purple, and completely matched to the purple piping and chevrons on girls’s navy uniforms. Montezuma Pink was issued to navy girls in an official package which included the gorgeous purple lipstick, an identical cream rouge, and nail polish.
As the recognition of Montezuma Pink blossomed, the general public demanded a shade of their very own. Elizabeth Arden created “Victory Pink”, amongst different reds, so any lady may proudly honor her nation.
Impressed by the power, and optimism of the Forties lady, Bésame’s very personal “1941 Victory Pink” is a trustworthy copy of the purple lipstick as soon as issued to navy girls. Whereas magnificence is probably not thought-about a “responsibility” for at the moment’s life-style, this shade will endlessly be linked to the assured and provoking girls of the Forties.
picture courtesy of @MissVintageLady
picture courtesy of @missgolden_lady
picture courtesy of @mikalakitty
